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Celestial Crusaders
The '''Celestial Crusaders '''were a renegade Adeptus Astarte chapter. Early History Founding The Celestial Crusaders were founded as a successor chapter of the Salamanders, and as such, they inherited their progenitor's interest in preserving the lives of military personnel and civilians alike. Crusade Space Hulk Infinitum During their first crusade, the Crusaders encountered a space hulk, dubbed ''Infinitum, ''in the Segmentum Obscuris. Upon entering the hulk they encountered an innumerable horde of Genestealers. Though faced with insurmountable odds, the brave Astartes cleaved through the Xenos and took a fair portion of the ship in the Emperor's name, though it would be another ten years before the Crusaders fully controlled it. Enemies of Khorne In the sixth year of their righteous crusade, the chapter happened upon a Chaos warband led by Daedalus the Blood-Drinker, vile Daemon prince of Khorne. The heretics attacked without warning, nearly crippling the Crusaders' fleet and forcing them to ground on an uninhabited planetoid. With no other Astartes nearby to support them, the Crusaders stood against the legions of the Blood-Drinker alone. The battle was fierce and many noble Marines fell to the infinite army of Khorne's Daemons, yet still the Crusaders did not falter. At the conflict's climax, the Blood-Drinker himself took the field and broke through the Crusaders' lines. Chapter Master Matthias Adams challenged the heretic leader to a duel to the death, which he accepted. Matthias won the duel, cutting off Daedalus's right arm. In response, the Daemons retreated into the warp with the body of their fallen leader. The Battle of Solus Near the end of their crusade, the Celestial Crusaders' home sector of Solus was besieged by the armies of Daedalus, seeking revenge for his defeat and mutilation. The chapter responded immediately, rallying every company to defend Solus Prime. Upon reaching their home, the Astartes were set upon by Eldar forces who were hunting Daedalus after he attacked their craftworld. A small battle ensued in orbit between the Marines and the aliens which only ended when both sides were attacked by the forces of Chaos. Chapter Master Matthias felt he had no choice but to propose to the Eldar a ceasefire until their common foe had been vanquished. The Xenos uneasily agreed to this and assisted the Marines in driving the invaders off of Solus Prime, though it took nearly twenty Terran years. In that time the Crusaders grew to respect the Eldar as warriors, as did the Eldar grow to respect them. However this act of xenophilia caught the eye of the Inquisition's Ordo Xenos, who promptly excommunicated the chapter. Nomad Chapter Though they had been banished by their Imperium, the Celestial Crusaders upheld their lifelong beliefs of justice, loyalty, and heroism. They used Space Hulk ''Infinitum ''as a base of operations, freeing oppressed peoples from tyrannical leaders and feeding starving worlds with help from their Eldar allies. The Fall and Reclamation of Solus With Solus Prime's defenses greatly compromised, an immense Necron army invaded the planet. The Solus Rising Suns fought the undead Xenos, but were overrun. When the commanders requested support, the Imperium would send none, seeing Solus's defense as a waste of valuable time and resources. A withdrawal was ordered, but only a handful of guardsmen obeyed it while the majority chose to die defending their homes. Upon hearing of the Necron's attack and the Imperium's retreat, the Crusaders felt their world had been betrayed by the Imperium and rushed to Solus Prime. Once there, they rendezvoused with the remaining Rising Suns and pushed the Necrons off their homeworld. Once Solus Prime had been retaken, the Crusaders set their sights on the rest of the sector, taking it with only light Necron resistance on a few worlds. Afterwards, the sector declared itself independent of the Imperium, though they were too preoccupied with the disastrous Fall of Cadia to worry about a renegade chapter taking a space sector. Category:Renegade Chapter